Official: New Olympus E-M5 announced (continually updated)

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Interesting info

Olympus Australia says the new 75mmf /1.8 and 60mm f/2.8 lenses will be available by end of the year. What the hell???
Mr. Tarada (Olympus) said “The new 16mp Live MOS image sensor produces lower noise at High ISO and boasts Dynamic Range that is a 1/3 improvement over current sensors” About a possible future peaking feature: “I feel that magnified focusing is still better“. About future lenses: “Yes, we can consider the possibility of faster and wider prime lenses.”
In Japan (Click here) yo can order the body or kit and get either a free MMF-3 or 32Gb Class 10 SD card.

Camera images (Click on image to enlarge)

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can you do it live? it was buried deep in the menus before, Tarada was shown doing it with the dials – awesome!

nicwalmsley

Yeah, not that deep. one press to get to EV. One press to get to shadow adjust. another press to get to highlights. But the E-M5 control is much better. I can see the results of the adjustment live, but it’s subtle. I stumbled across a case where it showed up big time, looking into a sunset with a cloud just above the horizon, with streams of light pouring out of it… adjusting the shadow made a bit change.

Well, so now we know what’s in the “hump” – it needs all that space for the EVF due to the diopter adjustment lens. The very front of the pyramid is just for design, but it’s only a few mm away from the EVF screen. Hopefully now all the “hump haters” can chill….

Boooo!

Actually, the infamous hump is there because the new IBIS takes up a lot of space – check the Finnish Ninja’s preview.

Ep3zd50_ninja

So hard to work today. Hands on preview in dpr now live!!!

Tom

Well, so now we know what’s in the “hump” – it needs all that space for the EVF due to the diopter adjustment lens. The very front of the pyramid is just for design, but it’s only a few mm away from the EVF screen. Hopefully now all the “hump haters” can chill.

“The 16MP Live MOS chip drives image data off the sensor at a blazing 240 frames-per-second, a 2X speed increase in Continuous Autofocus, with reduced image blackout enabling photographers to track fast action, Maximum frame rates in sequential shooting have also increased more than 2X with a max frame rate of 9-fps in Single AF. A new 3D tracking AF system can follow the subject through the X-, Y- and Z-axes to dramatically improve focus on moving subjects.”

Vril_Ya

Congratulations everyone.. its been a few weeks of painful labor. :D
And Admin deserves a salut!.

It looks like Olympus did a very nice job designing the EM-5. Between this camera and the MMF-3, however, there seems to be no improved support for SWD lenses. There are also no μ43 lenses of comparable quality to my 12-60. I’ll sit out a new camera for now. Perhaps next year.

Yu

Yea unfortunately I don’t think Olympus has the technology to make the adapter which would give any of 43 lenses with Af speed that would match with E series camera. I have 14-35 and 35-100 and I was so excited to get this camera too. Oh well.

They hold a patent for an adapter with phase detect, but I suspect that comparing the installed base of 4/3’s lenses with µ4/3’s, they decided not to go into production with it.

Daniel

Me too. I’m hoping for either an E-530 or a 43Ds/M43 hybrid that will focus my 12-60 and 50-200 quickly and reliably. Unfortunately, that hope has been fading with each new announcement for a few years now.

Other questions that I hope to see answered soon: Does this E-M5 have focus confirmation for manual lenses, and how fast is the EVF?

Steve

Wow, nice campaign from Olympus Japan! Order a body or kit, get either a free MMF-3 or 32Gb Class 10 SD card.

Well, I buy in Yen so not so bad. Besides, real prices are always 30% or more off these list prices.

Narretz

Just read the dpreview hands-on. Additionally to the two FN Buttons you can assign your different function to the movie button and to two buttons of the four way controller. And there is even a function button on the 12-50! So lots of opportunities to customize. And let’s not forget the two function buttons on the battery grip!

metalaryeh

Dpreview states that it has time-lapse recording. Hopefully that does not just mean with external control.

Andrew

DPReview claims 60 fps in 1080p mode 60 or 30 in 720p. I don’t know how this can be correct. The Australian Oly site also says: “The new 16 megapixel LiveMOS sensor with a maximum 240fps frame rate captures broadcast quality Full HD video.” No sign of 24p, though, regardless.

James

1080 60i at 20Mbps. Where is the superior to Panasonic GH2 video? The GH2 can do 1080 60i 30p & 24p NTSC or 50i 25p & 24p PAL at 24Mbps. The only M43 camera that will have a superior video mode to the GH2 will be the GH3.

Rishi

240fps is the rate at which the AF system refreshes, not for recording. would be nice though.

SWWT

I think they were talking about image quality not video modes…

Andrew

Doesn’t sound like that’ll be the case, either, unfortunately, with the bitrate. We’ll see.

I’ll have to admit.. Olympus have put a camera to my head. It’s a deal I cant refuse.

Andrew

Throw 24p in there and I’ll buy it in a heartbeat. Otherwise I guess it’ll stand alongside the X Pro1 as a camera that I’ll ogle at the camera store without buying one. I never imagined that the new Pentax mirrorless would end up being the better video camera. Oh well.

Rishi

on the olympus website, if you preorder, looks like you get the small flash that comes with it. does anyone know if that is the same on amazon?

Fish

The flash is not an extra item, but included with the kit. Just the same as it was with the E-PM1 and E-PL3

TheEye

And if you don’t preorder you don’t get the flash that comes with it? ;-)

Can someone explain to me this silver lens business for their premium lenses. Putting the beautiful silver 12mm on a black E-M5 looks awful. If you want to use the premium primes, and still maintain an attractive package, you have to go for the silver body. But some of us (me) want the black body. Why isn’t Olympus releasing these lenses in black, and for that matter, at their price, why aren’t they weather sealed. I understand this is merely a cosmetic issue, but let’s face it, Olympus is appealing to the buyers through the beauty and nostalgic look of their camera.

rrr_hhh

Personally I’d like the silver body but with a WHITE leatherette, that would be a perfect match with the silver lenses.

As is I prefer the all black version to the retro looking silver body, but as you say, it is not a very good match with my silver lenses ! And I do already have 4 Olympus silver lenses and two Contax G silver lenses.

Brad H.

So really the only cons that matter to myself are the minimum ISO and maybe video output if I get into videography in a large way.

Otherwise, looks like I’m not waiting until Photokina! Panasonic won’t release anything of merit. Sony’s lens lineup won’t mature for at least another year. Samsung is scaling back and we just saw what Pentax brought out (Marc Newson you disgust me!). Who’s left; Ricoh, Leica and Canon?

I want a WHITE and silver version please. Two colors suit the pyramid shape better, but it looks too retro for my taste, I don’t want to return to the seventies !
The black version looks more contemporary, but it’s line is not as smart as the bicolor model, plus it won’t fit that well with the silver lenses.
And I’m so happy to shoot with my white E-P3.

TheEye

Do you shoot with a white camera after Labor Day?

rrr_hhh

I don’t get it ? Labor Day ? Is that the 1st of May ? is that a special joke ?

I’m shooting with a white camera everyday. And I don’t work anymore, I’m fully retired.

I’m not yet sure to get one OM-D, since I already have the white E-P3 and the G3. So I may well still shoot with the white E-P3 after the 1st of May.

TheEye

It’s a joke. In the US, the first day of September is Labor Day. As this pretty much marks the end of summer, one is not supposed to wear white after Labor Day. Applying this old rule to the camera color amused me. Since you don’t hail from the US this does not apply to you anyway. ;-)

acahaya

silver ;-)

Jay

I wonder if Oly will release a similar spec in 4/3 line. They should consider to release E-xx/E-x with similar spec (with higher sensitivity in low light).

The best news I get out of this is an initial report confirms very fast AF on moving objects using 240 fps and in low light. If the new IBIS is improved to work well at all speeds then this will be even more attractive. Since it uses the same sensor as G3 it is more than likely that Pany through its processing and software to come up with the same speeds using 240 fps but as noted in the report that comes at a cost in resolution. This fast fps seems to indicate that some sort of electronic shutter is used to enable this performance.

Looks like this E-D5 camera will be a very attractive alternative.

Rishi

Anyone notice if the material covering the black camera is the same as the chrome version? They look different on the Olympus website. The chrome version has a more leather look. The black one has a cross-hatched material. Can someone confirm this?

flash

They are different, the silver is faux leather, the black is a “wheat” pattern.

Steve

IR mentioned it has a very quiet shutter. It will be interesting to hear comparisons.

“When we first tried the E-M5, we noticed that the shutter sound was considerably quieter than the E-PM1 I’d brought along. Then we got out the Sony NEX-7 and put it in electronic first curtain mode, its quietest setting, and the E-M5 was quieter than that as well. Very impressive. The E-M5 is likely to be an excellent street camera.”

TheEye

Never had a problem with a camera being too loud in the street. Oh wait, I’m talking about city streets.

nicwalmsley

Being quieter than the E-PM1 wouldn’t be hard. My number one gripe about the Mini. Can wake a sleeping baby…

rrr_hhh

There is one of the video showing comparing shooting speeds and the shutter noise of the E-P3 was significantly lower, but it could just be the position of the microphones ?

WeldPond

I appreciate that the high ISO pictures are of a realistic light level to require that sensitivity. I don’t really care about gradations of very dark colors in a daylight lit scene. These show me how a picture I might take would look.

Charlie

Surprised how much more I like the silver/black,

Thought I’d like black better.

rrr_hhh

The bicolor model suits the pyramidal shape better, that’s why.. But I’d like a white cover looking less retro than the black leatherette.

nicwalmsley

I think it is fair at this stage to say the E-M5 has been positively received by the main review sites… just have to wait and see what their detailed reviews say, but a promising start. Long live m43.

I think I am sold to the OM-D series. If not this iteration, probably the next. But what to do with my huge and heavy E-3 and my amazing SWD lens??? Though choices…..

Boooo!

Keep it, for superior ergonomy and optical quality, and wait for the E-7 that’s going to have the same sensor and IBIS.

Eric Stemen

Just e-mailed Olympus N. America and Japan: Hopefully we can have some explanations/ clarifications/ thoughts. E-mail as follows.

Dear Olympus, I’ve held out hope for you since the e-300 in 2004, and thought the E-M5 would have been the day you became mainstream and adopted by many, but just like the let down of not releasing the futuristic E-3 Body design and not implementing video on the e-330, you’ve come up with the first of designs, but for some reason lacked what people are looking for.
The e-300 different viewfinder style, kind of neat, small and dark….but affordable. The camera that got me into video and a huge fan of DSLRs, couldn’t wait for video to take up this form.
The E-330, first live view DSlr, should have been able to record video. The articulating LCD screen was innovative, but not innovative enough to buy over an e-300.
The E-3, from the mockups I saw it had a curved battery grip, super cool, but you decided to go with the traditional square grip design…I have no idea why. You had almost 2 years from the E-330 to the E-3 to implement at least some form of video but didn’t. Lame.
The E-5. You had two years to at least match the 5D mkII video specs, but couldn’t come close and could only manage 1280 x 720 @ 30fps, compared to 24fps or 30fps @ 1920 x 1080 of the Canon 5DMKII.

Today you’ve released a let down of a camera, although the body is cool, and the 5 axis IS is way cool, you almost completely ignore the video aspect of this camera. While I don’t know the exact specs of this camera due to conflicting sources, I haven’t seen 24fps listed anywhere.
People like me who are in the video field know DSLRs are the way of the future and traditional camcorders are out. This is what you’ve missed in the video market. 24fps, 25fps, 30fps, 50fps, 60fps. Option of 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720 for all frame rates, along with record time limited to size of memory card, instead of avoiding European taxes by limiting recording lengths. The current videographers don’t want to use should mount cameras anymore, we know small cameras can beat the quality of the large cameras and are waiting on a company to set the standards of future video. Right now Canon probably has the video category pretty secure with Panasonic close behind, but you and Panasonic use the same mount, why not combine your forces to beat Canon in the video game? The M4/3 system has a smaller sensor than Canon. If you want to stick with the 4/3 sensors, which is fine with the upcoming Panasonic lenses, but the software side of your system needs to be pushed much further. Thanks to people like Vitaliy_Kiselev and the people working with him to hack the GH2 we can see the potential of the 4/3 system. Why aren’t they a part of PanOly? Users want to be able to customize their cameras, we aren’t stupid, we know there is more potential in the cameras than we are given.
I hope the implementation of 24fps is applied to the M5 before the official release. You have great ideas, but are almost always lacking with ideas, that while may be difficult to execute, seem like common sense steps from a consumers point of view.

Steve

Seriously? You sent that? Olympus is a company focused on great glass and still images. They are not what you want if video is your game. They will likely never be – they can’t possibly compete with the R&D of a Panasonic or Canon AND make high-quality cameras for stills. Their imaging department just isn’t that big.

Your mail is going to right in their trash box, sorry to say.

TheEye

It’s a bit too late, or rather way too early, for the annual airing of grievances. What’s next? The feats of strength?

napalm

lol @ festivus remark

James

I believe a condition of Olympus using Panasonic’s sensor is to not have a better video mode than Panasonic. The best Panasonic sensor from the GH2 is witheld from Olympus. This G3 sensor simply cannot produce the quality of video that the GH2 sensor can. If you want fantastic video you need to buy the GH2 or wait for the GH3 at Photokina.

James

I believe a condition of Olympus using Panasonic’s sensor is to not have a better video mode than Panasonic. The best Panasonic sensor from the GH2 is witheld from Olympus. This G3 sensor simply cannot produce the quality of video that the GH2 sensor can. If you want fantastic video you need to buy the GH2 or wait for the GH3.

Eric Stemen

I’ve already got a GH2, I pre-ordered it a month or two before it came out. It’s a shame that consumers don’t want companies to be as good as possible and accept limitations.

To Steve: “They could easily be what I want, just put a true 24fps, 30fps, and 60fps.”

To TheEye: agreed, although what I’m asking for could possibly be added in firmware. I don’t know this for certain sense I haven’t worked on the project, but it looks like the sensor doesn’t refresh at 60fps so 60fps could be out for legitimate reasons.

To James: I haven’t seen that information public anywhere before…although it certainly does make sense.

Maybe if more people requested these updates and gave some reasons why they are necessary we could see more progress than the slow upgrades we have now…although I admit the 5 axis stabilization is really cool…but if Panasonic continues on their path we will only have lens IS. It would be very nice to have a camera system that used IBIS and had good video modes. I’m telling you, people into video don’t want the big cameras that you’ve seen in sports and news, we want small ones. Which ever camera manufacture that can incorporate a good video camera into a DSLR will do very well, or at least keep people from changing systems. Olympus has not succeeded in that aspect with this camera.

We have over 1000 users judging from the polls I see on 43 rumors, why not join together to try and make change?

Certainly many voices are stronger than one persons.

Eric.

Steve

Eric, if it was a matter of “Just” putting in some video modes they would be there. I suspect this is not an insignificant technical challenge and there is likely some considerable costs involved. As Olympus’s game is stills with video very low on the list of considerations, why not focus your limited resources where they are best suited?

It’s the same philosophy Olympus had with the E-System. They will never be able to compete in the megapixel race, so why try? Focus on image processing, durable cameras, and great optics.

Andrew

The fact is that Olympus put some real effort into developing the video mode on this one, which makes it disappointing that they didn’t take the small steps necessary to make it a viable option. The video-capable IBIS is an awesome feature, one which probably wasn’t easy to do properly. They put a zoom-rocker on the kit lens. They sell a hotshoe mic. They clearly are interested in catering to the video market.

The features which make this an appealing stills camera also appeal to video users. Weather-sealing is a big deal, and a great draw over the GH2. Same with the IBIS. People are disappointed with the video mode’s failings because they had been excited about the camera’s potential. A couple small changes (which could be changed in firmware) could’ve made this camera a real contender in the video market.

flash

They or Panasonic needs a dedicate video body for under $1,000 US. Remember it is a system not a camera.

rrr_hhh

Well I don’t think there are that many people who want video. I don’t want to be limited in still shooting by concession made to video shooters. If the video specs are important for you, get a true video camera. We want a camera excelling in taking stills, video is secondary in a still camera.

infinity jr.

If it had pop-up flash and full swivel screen, I’d buy it.
Waiting for PEN Pro or GH3.
ps – the hump is 3/8″ too tall! yes, it matters ;)

alexander

+111

Eric stemen

There are certainly many people who buy DSLRs primarily for video. Just because it has no interest to you doesn’t mean there aren’t that many. I’ve heard people complain about video features taking away from the still funnctions many times and I don’t understand why. If the video features are good enough more videographers will buy the camera and spend more money not only on the camera but the lens system also. More cameras bought, the more money can be put into research….or at least help ensure a system survives.
Video is important but why should I have to buy a dedicated video camera? Having dedicated video systems takes away resources that could be dedicated towards DSLRs if the divisions were combined.
We want a camera that is excelling in both stills and video. Video is secondary in a still camera….but this is NOT just a still camera.

SWWT

I’m really not getting all the hump hate. It only looks big because the rest of the body is small. It’s only a tiny bit taller than the G3 or GH2.

Metthew

What an excellent camera. I’m pretty sure that it will blow away both D4 and D800. We no longer care about these bulky and pricy FF anlymore ! Bravo EM-5

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